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SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Jason Day made a double bogey at the par-4 7th hole on Friday to drop back to even par for the championship, well off the lead held by Jimmy Walker at the time. The world's No. 1 player was in desperate need of a rally to get back into contention going into the weekend, and rally he did.

Day made seven birdies in his next eight holes to charge up the leaderboard to T3 along with Emiliano Grillo, two shots behind co-leaders Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb. The defending PGA champion's putter caught fire as he poured in birdie putt after birdie putt, setting Baltusrol ablaze and sending the gallery into a frenzy.


"I kind of gave myself a little bit of a kick in the bum, especially with the double bogey on 7," Day said after his round. "It was a bit of a mess there. With that said, being able to come back and birdie 8 and 9 really made things a lot better for me on the back side. Just kept on setting myself up for opportunities. Even when I was kind of out of position, either in a fairway bunker or just in the rough, I had perfect angles. So that was quite nice.

"It was pretty receptive out there today. I think if you could be a little bit aggressive, but also play it safe on some of the holes that you needed to. If you had the putter rolling you could get a score going. Fortunately for me, the back side was nice."

Day's performance in the early evening at Baltusrol Golf Club reminded everyone watching what he is capable of and why he's the best on the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained putting. When Day has the flatstick working, the game becomes almost comical with his distance off the tee. He can drive it far enough to put a wedge in his hand and stick an approach close, but on holes when he lays back in the fairway and plays safely to the center of the green, he has the confidence to pour in a 25- or 30-footer for birdie.

Friday's run from No. 8 to No. 15 was reminiscent of some of the runs he went on at Whistling Straits a year ago when he set the major championship scoring record at 20 under to win his first major title, and the scary thing is it's reasonable to think that he could've done better.

Day made par on 17 and 18, the only two par 5s on Baltusrol's lower course, for the second straight round. Day is second on the PGA Tour in par-5 scoring average this season at 4.51, so there are still opportunities for him to improve going into the weekend, particularly in closing his round on the two par 5s.

Walker and Streb have a two-shot head start going into the weekend, but if Day putts like he did on Friday in the final two rounds, it likely won't matter and we could see Day make more major championship history at Baltusrol.